Who Fired Shot At Denise Collins? Huge Report Full Of Clues But No Answer

August 18, 1989|By Jim Runnels of The Sentinel Staff

TAVARES — The massive, five-volume file on the Denise Collins shooting has one bottom line: Investigators may never know for sure who shot her.

But statements from deputies show they have a theory: They believe Collins shot herself.

There also is a warning in the file from two of her doctors: She may have to be hospitalized if she is pressured any more concerning the shooting.

Collins, the wife of former Sheriff's Capt. John Collins, was shot in the abdomen July 5, 1988, at the Eustis home she shared with her husband.

Mrs. Collins claimed that a white male wearing grey coveralls and carrying a box rang her doorbell, said ''Tell John we can get a lot closer than this'' and fired one shot into her abdomen. She said the gun was either in or under the box.

Daughtery's professional opinion was somewhat stronger: ''If I had all of the evidence as an investigator working on the case, I'm afraid I would bring Denise Collins in, put her on a lie detector or whatever, and take my evidence to the state attorney's office and file for charges.'' of falsifying reports to an officer.

The state attorney's office reviewed the file and concluded there was not enough evidence to file any charges.

Denise Collins, contacted at her home Thursday night, denied that she shot herself. She said she is not going to be able to withstand much more of the trauma from the shooting.

Sheriff George Knupp released the huge file Thursday after Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett refused Wednesday to force Mrs. Collins' doctors to open their psychiatric files for scrutiny.

According to the investigative file, the case is being put on ''inactive'' status. Everything in the file with the exception of medical records, the names of confidential sources and the names of some suspects, was given to reporters Thursday.

According to officers' statements in the file, they suspected from the first day that something wasn't quite right.

Daugherty said that when she went to the Collins' house the day of the shooting, she did not see any blood on the floor, where Mrs. Collins said she had fallen, nor any blood on the phone Mrs. Collins used to call for help.

Denise Collins also made a call to one of her best friends just before the shooting, and told her that ''something is about to happen,'' according to the file.

That information supposedly came from a ''confidential informant'' to Capt. Jimmy Horner a month after the shooting. Later, in interviews done after Sheriff George Knupp took office, the ''source'' was identified as a secretary working in the department.

''At approximately 3:15 p.m. on the day of the shooting incident, the source received a telephone call from Denise Collins, wherein Denise told the source that something was fixing to happen. Source states that 30 minutes later, Denise was shot,'' according to synopsis of the conversation Capt. Jimmy Horner had with the secretary.

Here are the high points from the summary pages of the investigative file: - Collins said the stranger rang the doorbell, but no fingerprints were found on the doorbell or near it.

- If the door was open, as Collins said, when the shot was fired, investigators believed there should have been gunshot residue on the door. None was found.

- If, as Collins said, the gun was inside a box, then there should have been particles of the box found inside the home because of the gun blast. None were found.

- If, as Collins said was possible, the gun was concealed under the box, there is no way that powder burns on her clothing would have been in a full circle. Instead, the burns should have been a half-circle.

- Collins said she was standing inside the doorway of her home when she was shot, with the suspect outside the door. FBI laboratory experts say that the gun was within six inches, close enough for the muzzle blast to rip her shirt.

- A forensic artist who created a picture of the suspect was ''was skeptical'' of Collins' description when he finished. One deputy who was re-interviewed said the picture was a perfect likeness of the first doctor who treated Collins in the emergency room of Waterman Medical Center.

- Collins claimed she passed out on the living room floor after the shooting, but no blood was found on the carpet.

Mrs. Collins was ''a prisoner in her own home,'' the report concludes, and friends and acquaintances said she was subject to periods of extreme depression.

The couple was in dire financial straits, the report said, and Denise Collins had talked about leaving her husband many times.

John and Denise Collins deny the allegations and said a proper investigation of the shooting was never done. John Collins said plenty of leads were never explored.